INTRODUCTION

Despite international efforts and educational investments by many second and third world countries, illiteracy continues to be a serious problem in the economic and cultural development of poor countries and for specific groups of the population of many other countries. Illiteracy represents an endemic situation that demands not only a decided intervention on the part of responsible politicians, but also a joint effort of the social sciences in order to discover its causes and to devise the programs most needed for its solution. In relationship to this problem, we have been able to observe the increasing interest the study of literacy has awakened in the different areas of social science and education in the last few years. Many articles and books have appeared on this subject, opening up a hopeful panorama (see Langer, 1987; Saljo, 1988). Almost all the published material has as its theme of investigation the learning of literacy in children or the learning of new forms of literacy (e.g., computer literacy). However, on only a few occasions has the study of the learning and the use of literacy in adults been approached. By taking on the study of adult learning in existing adult education programs, we can further comprehend why illiteracy continues to reproduce itself. Also, understanding the processes of learning through the uses of reading and writing can cast a new light on the ways that one internalizes a semiotic instrument and its influence on higher mental functions.